Powell heads for the cauldron

April 5 2002

US Secretary of State Colin Powell faces a herculean task next week in the Middle East as the Bush administration switches gears, tries to pry Israeli forces off the West Bank and get Yasser Arafat to control terrorists.

Yielding to an explosive situation and worldwide pressure that the United States intervene against Israel's military offensive, President George W Bush said he was sending Powell to the region.

The trip was so hastily arranged - only two days earlier Powell said publicly he had no plans to go to the region - that Powell's trip schedule was said to be up in the air hours after the president made his announcement.

He had planned to go to Berlin on Monday for meetings with German and other European officials, and to make a speech. That stop was cancelled.

A meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and with European Union foreign ministers remained on schedule for Madrid, Spain on Wednesday. ");document.write("

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Powell is due to see Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdallah II of Jordan on his travels. Where they would meet was a mystery.

And it was not completely certain that Powell would be able to see Arafat at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

However, Israel eased its confinement of the Palestinian leader for a meeting with US mediator Anthony Zinni, so prospects for a meeting with Powell were good.

Powell's immediate task is to try to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.

Zinni seemed to be close last week, but a series of terrorist attacks on Israel timed to the Passover holiday spoiled the progress the retired marine general had made.

Bush accused Arafat of not consistently opposing or confronting terrorists.

"The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making," the president said. "He's missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead."

The president was tough on Israel, as well. "To lay the foundations of future peace, I ask Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied," he said.

Also, Bush called for an end of construction of homes for Israeli Jews on the West Bank, withdrawal from territories captured from the Arabs in the 1967 Mideast war, and for Israel to "show a respect for and concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people who are and will be their neighbours".

"It is crucial to distinguish between the terrorists and ordinary Palestinians," Bush said, renewing his call for creation of a Palestinian state on land Israel would have to give up.

After the president spoke, Israeli tanks tightened their chokehold on Nablus, the biggest city on the West Bank, and battles raged at nearby Palestinian refugee camps.

Israel launched "Operation Defensive Shield" last Friday to crush Palestinian terrorists who have killed more than 40 Israelis and wounded hundreds of others in a week's time.

Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said in a statement: "Israel will cooperate in US efforts to cease terror and fire. In the absence of a true willingness to do the same on the Palestinian side Israel will continue in its actions to stop terror."

Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, praised Bush for urging an end to the Israeli offensive.

Arafat and his Cabinet issued a statement early today unconditionally accepting the renewed US effort, but Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat rejected Bush's criticism of Arafat as "unjustified and unacceptable".

With Powell standing at his side in the Rose Garden, Bush pressed Arab leaders to do more to end terrorism and to emulate the peacemaking traditions begun by the late president Anwar Sadat of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan.

Both signed peace treaties with the Jewish state after Israel yielded to their territorial demands.

As Bush spoke, Mubarak urged the administration to "exert its maximum effort" to secure an Israeli withdrawal.

In an address to his nation, Mubarak said Israel's military campaign will create hatred among 300 million Arabs.

The Mideast crisis was sure to dominate Bush's weekend meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the president's ranch near Crawford, Texas.